Boy reported missing in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 January 2011, 09:34 GMT]A 13-year-old boy from Oottuppu'lam, a hamlet situated south of Puthumu'rippu ku'lam, 5 km south-west of Ki'linochchi town, who went herding the cows of his family on Thursday has been reported missing. One of the cows was found killed, according to the villagers who went searching for the boy. The boy had lost his mother in Vanni war and was living with his uncle. At a time when young boys were being abducted by uniformed men occupying Vanni, the disappearance of the 13-year-old boy has created a fear-psychosis among the villagers of Oottuppu'lam.

The boy, S. Kajen, went to a grassland adjacent to the jungle with his cows. As the boy didn't return till the noon, his relatives and villagers went looking for him in the nearby jungle and located one of the cows, which was found killed.

The situation of poverty, lack of adequate resettlement aid and the missing village infra-structure that existed before 2009 in Vanni has caused several children to work for the earning of the family.